• What is a livable community, anyway?

    A walkable community is the most common term to describe the alternative to drive-only suburbia. Yet walking is so basic to human life that we often take it for granted. Perhaps a more inspiring term is livability.
    A walkable community is the most common term to describe the alternative to drive-only suburbia. Yet walking is so basic to human life that we often take it for granted. Perhaps a more inspiring term is livability. Former US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood defined livability as "a community...Read more

  • A sidewalk to connect our fractured nation

    It's easy to divide the country into those who have sidewalks, and vote one way, and those who do not, and vote another way. Yet sidewalks, and all they symbolize, are gaining political recognition.
    Nate Silver, the celebrated election prognosticator, Tweeted during the 2012 presidential race: "Heuristic: if a place has sidewalks, it votes Democratic. Otherwise, it votes Republican." Nate Silver is an astute analyst, and his observation mostly rings true in 2016. The presence of sidewalks is a...Read more

  • How Latinos shape the American suburb

    Latin American immigrants conceive of suburban and urban life in a way that is hugely influenced by the Law of the Indies and its resulting development patterns.
    Latino immigrants are reshaping the American suburban landscape in ways that deserve any planner’s attention — not because this reshaping needs to be curbed, but because it offers unique learning lessons in how to improve the sustainability of the American suburb in simple and low-tech but...Read more

  • How to sell missing middle housing to neighbors

    In order to build a 'Missing Middle' development, a rezoning and/or a variance is typically required—which means the project must be sold to the neighborhood. This is what we have learned on how to do that.
    We spend a lot of time talking about Missing Middle Housing and its critical role in developing healthy and inclusive neighborhoods. Discussing the theory and design behind Missing Middle Housing is essential, but we also need to consider the hands-on process of making these projects real. One...Read more